Colleagues:

Major GeneralRichard James Oglesby
(25 July 1824 - 24 April 1899) commanded Federal troops
during the Civil War, until resigning to run for
Governor of Illinois. He was elected governor three times, trading
one of those governorships for a Senate appointment.

Oglesby was born in Kentucky, but at the age of about eight
came to live with an uncle in
Decatur, Illinois. In 1846
he was commissioned as a lieutenant, but did not see action in the
Mexican War. Leaving the army, he studied law, and entered politics
in the newly-formed Republican Party, winning election to the
Illinois Senate in 1860.

Appointed Colonel at the onset of the Civil War, he was given
command first of a regiment and then a brigade, earning him promotion
to brigadier general in 1862. Oglesby fought at Fort Henry, Fort
Donelson, and Corinth, where he was wounded. He was promoted to
major general and given command of the Left Wing of the XVI Corps,
Army of the Tennessee, but resigned in 1864 to run for governor.

Oglesby served a four-year term as governor, then practised
law. He ran for governor again, but resigned immediately in 1873,
having made a deal with his lieutenant governor, who then
appointed Oglesby to the Senate. In that same year, his
son John Oglesby was born; John G. Oglesby would later be
lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1909 to 1913, and 1917-1921.
1

Oglesby's term in the Senate ended in 1878, whereupon he
failed to win reelection. He did, however, win an unprecedented
third term as governor, in 1884.

Major General, Governor, and Senator Richard Oglesby died
at the age of 74 in 1899, at his "Oglehurst" estate near
Elkhart Cemetery.